TESTING: The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced Dec. 4 that Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) fired its first double-viewpoint hydrodynamic test of a nuclear weapon component mockup. The test, under NNSA’s stockpile stewardship program, took place at the Dual Axis Radiographic Hydrodynamic Test facility at Los Alamos inside a specially designed double-walled containment vessel.
HELIOS 2B SET TO LAUNCH: The French defense ministry expects the launch of Helios 2B Earth observation satellite on Dec. 9 aboard an Ariane 5 launched from the European space center in Kourou, French Guyana. EADS Astrium built the satellite. Belgium, Spain, Italy and Greece also are involved in the program. Others will also have access to imagery. For instance, Germany and France have an agreement in which they exchange space-based images derived from Germany’s radar satellites and France’s EO spacecraft respectively.
EATON CORP., which used acquisitions to build up its aerospace business, is staying put on the M&A sidelines. “Right now we’ve got a recovery with zero cost of capital – that’s not a real recovery,” CEO Sandy Cutler said during a presentation at the AVIATION WEEK/Credit Suiise A&D Finance Conference in New York. “We’ll be back in the market,” he adds, “but not real soon.”
FORCE FEEDING: The U.S. Air Force chief says he is concerned about maintaining the industrial base during these lean financial times. But he is not one to be pushed around. At the Credit Suisse/Aviation Week conference, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems CEO Dennis Muilenburg said the C-17 production line at Long Beach, Calif., is a one-of-a-kind “national treasure,” the only facility suited to build large military aircraft left in the U.S. base. Boeing has lobbied hard to get funding for more C-17s from Congress each year despite a lack of funding from the Air Force.
OZZIE AEGIS: Lockheed Martin announced the completed production of the first Aegis Weapon System for the Royal Australian Navy’s Air Warfare Destroyer (AWD-1) program on Dec. 1. In a ceremony at its Moorestown, N.J. facility, the company marked the completion of a full range of acceptance tests conducted over several months to verify system performance. The milestone indicates the Aegis system is now ready for shipboard installation on HOBART, the first of Australia’s three planned Aegis-equipped destroyers.
NEW START RESTART: Amid the grim funding forecasts for defense spending in the years to come, U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz says there may be a couple of new programs started. Among those under consideration are the Next-Generation Bomber (also called Long-Range Strike) and a Space-Based Space Surveillance (SBSS) follow-on constellation to collect intelligence on satellites.
LOOSENING THE GRIP: The Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) is ramping up its outreach in support of official reconsideration of the export controls system. President Barack Obama has declared his administration will review the entire system, including economic and security issues. That comes after President George W. Bush’s team managed to cut the backlog of State Dept. license applications while striking ground-breaking treaties with Britain and Australia. Hooray for all that, the AIA says.
EXPORT PIPE DREAM: U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz sent a few dark clouds Lockheed Martin’s way last week. The Air Force chief squashed the idea of an export version of the F-22 Raptor for Japan, which some had hoped would extend the production line in Marietta, Ga. Three miracles would need to happen to lead to an export version: relief on the U.S.
The U.S. Air Force has confirmed to Aviation Week the existence of the so-called “Beast of Kandahar” UAV, a stealth-like remotely piloted jet seen flying out of Afghanistan in late 2007.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) Dec. 7 - 8 — NATO – The Road Ahead, Marriott Prague, Prague, Czech Republic. For more information go to www.smi-online.co.uk Dec. 7 - 8 — Technology Training Corp.’s Space Security & Defense Conference, Caesars Palace Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas. For more information go to www.ttcus.com
Sea Launch Company has won final bankruptcy court approval for debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing to keep it going while it reorganizes under Chapter 11, with help from a couple of entrepreneurial space businesses that are working with the company on exit financing, as well.
SPLITTING THE BILL: The Pentagon and F-35 contractor Lockheed Martin are in negotiations over how to proceed with “cost sharing,” or jointly paying for the projected overrun in the Joint Strike Fighter development program. But it will not be as easy as a charge or flat fee. Several options are on the table to pay for the overage in developing the single-engine stealthy aircraft, according to Lt. Gen. Mark Shackelford, the military deputy to the Air Force acquisition executive. They include restructuring the current development contract.
Following two Sea Viper test shot failures – the most recent last month – the U.K. Defense Ministry has yet to determine the impact on fielding the full capability of the naval air defense system. The Sea Viper, the Royal Navy’s name for MBDA’s Principal Anti-Air Missile System, will be the primary air defense weapon for the Type 45 destroyer when it enters service.
The U.S. Navy released pricing for the third and fourth Littoral Combat Ships Dec. 3, citing a “change in acquisition strategy” for fiscal 2010. Details of the awards from earlier this year had been known mainly by just the Navy and the competing industry teams. The awards came as the Navy has overhauled its LCS program, canceling orders for some expected ships in the process as Washington struggled to get a better handle on costs and program issues.
Three NASA astronauts who are scheduled to be aboard the International Space Station in the second half of next year have gotten “preliminary training” on the Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) Dragon cargo vehicle. Arrival of the first Dragon at the ISS is planned during the onboard tenure of astronauts Tracy Caldwell Dyson, Shannon Walker and Douglas Wheelock.
The Russian and U.S. presidents still expect to sign a follow-on agreement to the expiring Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (Start) – but not without a pause in their arms control.
MORE BLOOD: U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn says the budget horizon for the Pentagon is flat. At last week’s Credit Suisse/Aviation Week Aerospace & Defense Finance conference, Lynn said he “doesn’t expect any dramatic reductions” in the budget, but neither is growth likely. And there is likely more defense program bloodletting ahead.
How the military wants to fight in Afghanistan in the near term and elsewhere in the long term are becoming two widely divergent points in geography, technology and operational techniques.
ICBM MISSION: The U.S. Air Force Global Strike Command assumed the service’s Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) mission Dec. 1. The transfer is part of a phased approach to unify all Air Force nuclear-capable assets under one command. The new command gains three missile wings, one each at F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyo.; Malmstrom AFB, Mont.; and Minot AFB, N.D., with the assumption of the entire 20th Air Force mission, including that organization’s responsibility for all of the United States’ 450 ICBMs.
The ranking Republican on the House committee that authorizes spending for NASA says the time has come to bail out the U.S. space program like a failing bank. Rep. Ralph Hall (R-Texas) told the House Science space and aeronautics subcommittee that the fiscal strain of Hurricane Katrina and other natural disasters, the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and “eight, nine years of war” have starved NASA of the funds it needs to do its job.
The U.S. Army is moving forward on its ground combat vehicle (GCV) program with an aggressive timeline and highly defined requirements for survivability, mobility and versatility.
